Tag Archives: time

I think one of the technologies that have fascinated the human race the most is Cloning. Not the kind of cloning we have in top-notch labs around the world today where they use simple DNA to create a baby version of whatever animal they are trying to clone, but the sort of cloning that plagued Sci-Fi movies of the 80s and 90s where they place the star of the movie in a tube filled with water, and out comes a carbon copy of the star.

Judging from my last post Chameleon Nature, you probably know that I am fascinated by the concept of change right now. The first thing anyone learns about change is, of course, its inevitability. As they say, “the only constant thing in this world is change.” But one of the other things I’ve learned about change is that you can’t change people. I think this is a hard reality many do not want to admit. We all want to see our friends dress like us, speak like us, love the kinds of movies we love, and so on. So, when we hear that we can’t change people, we get disappointed.

If we can’t change people, then what can? ‘Coz we all want those around us to change so we can finally stop trying to convince them that black coffee is more savory than milked. Or that the PS4 is a better game console than the X-box One. Here are two things I know that change people:

Environment

This is a primary factor especially when we are in our formative years. We are influenced by the people who are around us, the kind of schools we attend, and even the kind of programs we watch on TV. If we are raised among gorillas (like Tarzan), chances are we tree surf as a means of transportation (thank you, Disney, for selling us that impossible concept), and beat our chests like an ape, screaming “ah-ah-ah-ahhhh!” But if you are reading this blog, chances are you aren’t in your “formative years,” and that’s where the next change factor comes in…

Experiences

I normally disagree with this concept that the grass is greener at the other side of the fence (I’ll blog on that soon), but for contextual purposes I’m gonna use it here. Let’s assume that the saying is true. We know how comfortable we get in our comfort zones…until we have a brand new experience outside our comfort zone that proves our comfort zone was nothing but a boring zone. Personal testimony; I hated readers because they always buried their noses in those boring, text-filled pages, and found it difficult to speak a word to me when they were reading. As a result, I promised myself I would NEVER read…that was, of course, before I read Ted Dekker’s THR3E. And now I write.

You can’t people. But environments and experiences will. You have no control over these factors, but it’s good to know that under the right condition, that loved one—or hated one, depending—can, and will change.

Notice how the quality of everything (except probably smartphones) is steadily dropping? While we are all modern and ‘21st Century’, hence dissociating ourselves from anything worthy to be referred to as “Old School”, the humble among us will admit, though very reluctantly (some blatantly), that there seems to be more quality in the works of old. We say things like, “Horror movies just aren’t what they used to be”, or “You just can’t get good music these days”. And this plagues mostly the intellectual and creative world. Ever wonder why people just aren’t doing what Michael Jackson used to do back in the day?

Here’s the real question: Who’s to say no one is doing what MJ did? Who’s to say no one is even making better music? What if the problem isn’t outside, but with us?

Hello, Apathy!

I dare say, the word apathy was probably created with this generation in mind. It isn’t that things aren’t of the same (or even higher) standards than before; we’ve only just evolved (or devolved) into the era of indifference. Perhaps the most used expression in the 21st century isn’t, “What’s up?”, but “It was just ok”. Hmmm…said that lately?

We are all incessantly searching for ‘the next big thing’.

The next big thing will never come, for when it does, ‘next’ is ‘now’, and ‘now’ is irrelevant—my definition of apathy.

So, while we can’t peek into the future and get a glimpse of the next big thing, we might as well step back into the past and relearn how to appreciate the little things.